A probe conducted by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has provided insight into the marketing of semaglutide in the U.K. This research has raised questions regarding the efficiency of regulatory control of materials that pertain to the medical management of diabetes and weight reduction.
Semaglutide is the key component in the diabetic medication Ozempic and the obesity treatment Wegovy. Novo Nordisk is the company that holds the marketing license for semaglutide; nevertheless, results of online queries for the compound include pharmacy websites that are not associated with the product manufacturer. The BMJ conducted an investigation to see if any of those pages violate the regulations on the advertising of prescription pharmaceuticals and which authorities in the U.K. respond to claims of unlawful promotion.
A complaint submitted by academics from Sweden and the U.K. serves as the primary focus of the current research. The academics expressed their “appalled” reaction to the discovery that Pharmadoctor, a company that offers clinical solutions for pharmacists, was promoting Wegovy straight to the general public. This was emphasized in a letter that they sent to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Pharmadoctor has said unequivocally that it has no role in the advertising, marketing, or promotion of Wegovy whatsoever.
In the U.K. and throughout the majority of Europe, it is against the law to directly promote drugs that have been approved for use with a prescription.
A blog post published by Pharmadoctor that referred to Wegovy as “a weekly weight loss injection made famous by celebrities such as [X owner] Elon Musk and [former British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson” is the primary source of the complaint. The beginning of the blog article includes a link to a tool that may be used to locate pharmacies that offer services related to weight management. The statement, “if Wegovy is suitable for you, your pharmacist will be able to provide it” is included in the introduction. A link to the blog post was included on the homepage.
MHRA informed the academics that the reference to Wegovy located on the webpage had been deleted in accordance with its recommendations. Despite the fact that the link and the name “Wegovy” were removed from the webpage that was directed toward patients, the blog post continued to be accessible online. Graham Thoms, Pharmadoctor CEO, stated that the removal of the post wasn’t an MHRA requirement.
A representative from Novo Nordisk stated that the company does not support the advertising of prescription-only drugs to the public in the U.K. and was not involved in the creation of these advertisements.
James Cave, the chief editor of the BMJ’s Drug & Therapeutics Bulletin, mentioned that the MHRA’s emphasis on websites is outdated as individuals now rely on search engines rather than visiting particular websites. Google lookups for text from the blog post yield no results, indicating that it may not be visible to individuals seeking information about Wegovy on the internet.
